About Me
"Lilly" Elizabeth Trammell, MS, LMHC, NCC
- she/her/hers or they/them pronouns -
Hey all! Thank you for taking the time to look at the Heavy Boots Counseling website! Heavy Boots has been an idea since 2020 when I started doing my internship in COVID-land. I had never planned on doing telehealth. It felt impersonal to me, and that it would be really difficult to connect with people compared to meeting in person. And then I found that I love it! I can reach more people, in their homes, in any circumstance, just by having sessions on a screen. There are pros and cons to everything, and while Heavy Boots may change as we move forward, this feels like a great way to start.
Let's go further back than probably necessary: I grew up in a tiny, rural town in Oregon. There are no traffic lights, and the school was K-12 and smaller than your graduating class (no seriously, trust me). Counseling wasn't something readily available; we had to drive 45 minutes to get to a grocery store, let alone a therapist. As a teen, I needed that support, and my parents, being awesome, found one for me. But they were not a good fit. I lasted about a month before telling my mom I didn't want to go anymore. I didn't feel safe to be myself. I didn't feel like my counselor understood me, even when it came to the books I liked to read. It was like this therapist didn't actually understand teens. It felt like a waste of time and money, so instead, I struggled in silence and made some pretty dumb choices to feel make myself feel better. So here I am, trying to be different from that counselor.
I am a millennial, so I am definitely not a kid anymore. At the same time, I remember how hard being a teen and early adult was for me. I can't pretend to have gone through the exact same things as folks today (so grateful for not having Instagram at 15), but I can understand a lot of the "why"s behind their problems because it's the same "why"s as 20 years ago. I struggled with my gender and sexuality, even if we didn't have names for anything besides "gay, straight, and bi, but that's fake". I wanted to be liked and understood, by others and myself. I wanted to feel good. I wanted to ignore my trauma, but also make it better. I wanted to make the world a better, safer place but felt powerless to know how. I wanted to make decisions about my future, but all the options got overwhelming. I can't fix all the problems you're experiencing, but I really do enjoy helping and understanding your personal experiences, and have several different job experiences that have helped me realize exactly what work I want to do:
Relevant Job History
May 2021 - August 2023
Children's Home Society of Washington
Vancouver, WA
Child & Family Therapist
My first 'real' job as a counselor! I have worked with kids ages 6-19 during my time here, as well as their families. This agency is fantastic and works with clients who have state insurance. This means they may need help not just with mental health issues, but making sure they have their other basic needs met. I got my training in TF-CBT and COS-P, and earned my hours for state licensure due to my work here.
October 2019 - December 2020
Portland State University
Portland, OR
Practicum Counseling & Supervising
This was a chance to start putting the skills I was learning in school into practice. I provided counseling to other PSU students while being directly observed by my peer and faculty supervisor. Once I was done being the counselor, I got to become another counseling student's peer supervisor. You learn so much hearing feedback from others who directly see you counseling, but I think you may learn more by watching others and giving them feedback.
April 2019 - April 2021
Unity Behavioral Health
Portland, OR
Behavioral Health Assistant - PES Department
I worked this job during most of my time in graduate school, working overnights in the Psychiatric Emergency Services department. I was a support hospital staff that saw adults in varying degrees of crisis. Some patients were there against their will, some were voluntary, and some honestly did not know where they were. The education I got in this job is invaluable, but it was incredibly hard to see people at their lowest moments. It gave me a real look at what the hospital does to help the clients I have to send in due to safety concerns, so please know, I never take sending people to the hospital lightly.
April 2017 - September 2018
Lifeworks NW
Gresham, OR
Client Wellness Facilitator
This was a position I helped to create with 3 other fantastic team members. The goal was to help clients get physical and mental health services. I helped clients call their insurance to get set up with a primary provider, took their basic physical health history and vitals, and met (or at least tried) all the clients ages 4-94ish at the Gresham location. This job required me to meet a lot of people, build trust, and say goodbye, all in maybe 20 minutes or less.
February 2015 - December 2016
Albertina Kerr Centers
Portland, OR
Skills Trainer II
This was the job that solidified that I wanted to be a counselor. I worked with kids ages 4-18 and their families, teaching therapeutic coping skills and parenting skills as advised by their counseling team. I went into homes, schools, and took kids into the community to help them put those skills into practice in the real world. I got a direct view into how to help people while they were emotionally escalated, whether it was fear, anger, or another big emotion.
While I'm never interested in making your sessions about me, I'm also pretty open to discussing my own experiences, especially with my own mental health history with anxiety, depression, ADHD diagnosed as an adult, C-PTSD, and emotional abuse. I'm also a bisexual demi-girl, married to a cis-het man (so super straight passing). I grew up in organized religion but no longer identify with any. I am ridiculously white with Jewish heritage, so while I have experienced bigotry, I have the privilege of hiding any of my discriminated identities when it doesn't feel safe. I share all this information, again, not to make it about me, but to help you feel like you know who you're talking to. I want you to feel comfortable asking me anything, including questions about myself. I can't promise to answer every question, but do I promise to explain why I can't answer a question.
...Also. If may impact your choice to know, I swear. A lot. A hell of a lot. Probably too much. Let me know if that causes any issues for you, and I will do my best to keep my cursing to a minimum.